Glam Rocks: With its flashy and fabulous new four-door, Chrysler evokes the vibrant American sedans of yesteryear--and steals the show in a highly competitive Car of the Year field.

Long & Short120-inch wheelbase, more than three inches longer than that in new Cadillac STS, helps deliver enough interior room for a toga party, yet short front and rear overhangs mean overall body length is nearly identical to Caddy's.

For now, three engines are available in the 300. We can't recommend the base motor, a 24-valve, 2.7-liter V-6 that, at 200 horsepower, feels barely adequate for the 300's 3700 pounds. But the other two powerplants are stellar. The 300 Touring ($27,720) and Limited ($30,530) feature a smooth-running, 24-valve 3.5-liter V-6 good for 250 horsepower; the engine mates with a four-speed automatic. It's a happy powertrain, and for many buyers it'll provide all the performance they'll need.

Why settle for enough, though, when a few bucks more will buy you a Hemi surplus? The poised, pushrod V-8 adds real lightness to the 300C's feet, dropping 0-to-60-mph times to just 6.2 seconds. A rich helping of torque, 390 pound-feet at 4000 rpm, endows the 300C with effortless thrust for the city stop-and-go or mountain romps. The Hemi is fiscally responsible, too: It features Multi-Displacement System technology, which seamlessly cuts four of the eight cylinders when they're not needed--improving fuel economy, says Chrysler, by 10 to 20 percent. Not surprisingly, more than half of 300 buyers are opting for Hemi power.

A home run on significance, a slam-dunk on value, the 300 sealed its Car of the Year victory through sheer superiority. Though clearly biased toward luxury--light steering, high-profile tires, soft and supple ride--the 300 hangs tough when you want to hustle. "The handling limits are easy to define," says technical director Frank Markus. "You can push this car into a fast sweeper and place it right on the edge of stability-control intervention." The rear-drive platform (with suspension pieces like those in the Mercedes E-Class) enhances handling balance and eliminates annoying torque-tugging at the steering wheel (for drivers in snowy climes, full-time four-wheel drive--essentially, the Mercedes 4MATIC system--is optional). The powertrain is a willing dance partner, too. The five-speed automatic does a brilliant job of automatically holding a lower gear when it senses that you're using the throttle for adrenaline delivery.

Above all, the 300 impresses with its grace and sophistication. Body gaps are tight and even. The structure shrugs off road imperfections without squeak or stir. The cockpit is hushed, spacious, restful. Sure, there are compromises. The center-console coin tray and map pocket, for instance, are cheap plastic pieces prone to popping out of place. You won't care once you step on that Hemi, though.Perhaps the 300 is indeed the forerunner for a renaissance of big, glamorous, high-value sedans from other American makers. But everyone else is late to the party. With its new 300, Chrysler proves the good old days are right here, right now.